Markets Bank Review – Highlighting the Problems

Markets Bank Review

There was a time when trading in the financial markets was possible for only those who had a massive amount of money, an in-depth understanding of the markets and interested in making a career out of it. These days, anyone can engage in online trading, even if they do not have a lot of money, or years of experience and only want to supplement their income.

This is all because of technological advancement because now people can access the financial markets right from the comforts of their homes. All of this is made possible by online brokers and this Markets Bank review is about one such platform.

Is it necessary to check out this broker’s review before signing up? Indeed, it is essential for you to look into the brokerage you intend to use for your trading activities, whether for the short-term, or the long-term. Why? This is because not all companies that operate in this space are legitimate.

Who has not heard about the scams that take place over the internet? It is a breeding ground for scammers, so you have to be extremely careful when you are shopping for one to start trading.

Most people are very eager to begin and do not pay a lot of attention to the brokerage until it is too late and their money is gone. While the fraudulent platforms do not come with any flashing warnings about their actual intentions, there are some ways you can identify what they are.

This involves checking out their offerings and highlighting the problems that make it evident that something is fishy. When you do so, you will find the issues that these shady companies have and will be able to avoid a trap.

You will experience this firsthand when you check out Markets Bank that is advertised as a forex and CFD broker. The problems that you discover are enough to decry the company and look for a different platform altogether. Some of the prominent ones are highlighted as follows.

False implication of licensing and regulation

The license and regulation of a brokerage is considered a mark of its legitimacy, due to which many shady and fraudulent companies claim to be regulated in order to appear legitimate.

Your priority should be to bear in mind that just because a company is claiming something does not automatically make it true. You have to do your own research and verify the claims to ensure they really do have a license.

This needs to be done in the case of Markets Bank as well, as the company claims to be based in the United Kingdom and operating from there.

The UK is one of the top regulated jurisdictions in the world and its regulatory body i.e. the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is quite well-known. A license from the FCA is immensely valuable, but when you check its online register, you will not find Markets Bank in its list.

Without a license from the FCA, it is not possible for Markets Bank to operate legally from the UK. It is either operating illegally, which makes it downright fraudulent, or is lying about its operations. In addition, it is also going against the rules of the FCA in terms of offering trading bonuses that are banned in the jurisdiction.

The fact that Markets Bank is unlicensed and unregulated and lying about its location is enough for you to steer clear of it.

Shady bonus policies

If the license and regulation was not a problem as is, you will also discover that Markets Bank offers trading bonuses. As mentioned earlier, the FCA has imposed a ban on these bonuses and they cannot be offered in its jurisdiction. Why is this so? Technically, these bonuses should be a benefit to traders because it gives them financial incentive.

However, the FCA, along with other worldwide regulatory bodies, banned these bonuses because they come with strings attached, which are meant to exploit traders. Since the conditions associated with the bonuses are not fair, they were forbidden. Yet, Markets Bank is offering trading bonuses, despite claiming to operate from the UK.

You will also discover the reason of the ban on these bonuses firsthand when you check the Markets Bank’s bonus policy. It specifies that you have to achieve a specific turnover before you can make withdrawals.

For a $10 bonus, you have to have transactions of $1 million to be able to make a withdrawal. This is downright obscene because it is not possible to achieve that kind of turnover, even for professional traders.

Essentially, it is just how Markets Bank intends to ensure that you are unable to withdraw your money, which allows them to keep it.

High minimum deposit

It is understood that some brokerages ask their clients to make a minimum deposit for opening an account on their platform. The fact that Markets Bank is also asking for a deposit should not be a problem, but it becomes one when you check out the deposit demanded. You have to deposit a whopping $10,000 to open an account with Markets Bank, which is excessive.

These days, most brokers are permitting their clients to open an account for as low as $10, which makes it a 100 times more. Even if Markets Bank was to follow the standard minimum deposit, it should not be more than $250, yet they are asking for 40 times more. Moreover, the fact that their bonus policy will prevent you from making a withdrawal means that you will be left $10,000 short of your money.

Essential details missing

Apart from the problems mentioned above, another glaring issue with Markets Bank is that the brokerage has not provided some essential details.

They have not disclosed what kind of trading conditions are available, which means you do not know what spreads they will charge, or the leverage they will offer. Likewise, there is no information about the payment methods, so there is no way to figure out if a chargeback would be possible or not.

Wrapping up

Considering the problems that you are able to identify in Markets Bank, you should continue your search for a good broker and look for a different one.